Do you guys rock fenders?
I’m planning on getting some because i am finally loosing the car, but i’m kind of wondering if they’re worth the money or not.
Do they add substantial weight? do they take away any performance? opinions?
Fenders are awesome & I wouldn’t consider riding in the rain without them. If you are ditching your car this shouldn’t even be a question.
if you’re car free it would be stupid not to. there’s no noticable weight or performance degradation. they do occasionally make noise. I’m car free, 2 bikes, one with fenders and one without.
Fenders are great.
They are amazing.
They make riding in the rain a joy.
There is no reason under the sun to not run fenders on a bike that plays in puddles.
Congrats on going car-free!
youre going to slo right? it rains there?
Fenders are great but they can also get really annoying because they’re extra parts that need adjusting and care for (watch out with your toe overlap). With track fork ends you’re going to want Race Blade style fenders, but they’re not as good as full fenders. A dedicated rain bike with horizontal or vertical dropouts is probably the ideal solution. You’re probably fine with Race Blades though.
I feel like a complete moron every time i ride in the rain without fenders. The feeling of your ass geting soaked and grit going in your eyes and teeth… ecch. That said, some disadvantages:
Fenders make you a bit less aero, but this doesn’t matter if you’re not racing.
A fender in front adds a small element of danger to riding, because if something fucks up (i.e. a crash damages it and you keep riding, or something is sucked up into it by your front wheel) it can catch your front wheel and send you over the bars. I am normally a full fender nerd but i take mine off for allycat tarck races where anything can happen.
Allycat Tarck Races: where anything can happen.
I agree. If you enjoy riding and are car-free you need at least one light/fast bike and one workhorse with fenders.
Without a car you should be able to afford at least four decent bikes!
fenders are the bees knees.
having a dedicated rain bike is the way to go. except that up here in it is sometimes unpredictable and i end up riding the wrong bike. like today. rode the rush cause it was nice in the morning, rained a shit ton during the day, then cleared up and got super nice for the ride home.
get fenders. i like the PB cascadias
Or 3 decent bikes and a polo bike!
Get those folding fenders.
yeah, i’m going to slo… i doubt it rains there more than 10days. dont got shit on your 200
that looks like the abdomen of some horrible robotic insect
you can always make some out of old milk/soda/whatever jugs and zipties…some of the best fenders I’ve ever had were made makeshift style…
knowing how to rig fenders together is a really useful thing.
I run the unbreakable plastic Planet Bike full fenders on my commuter. I like them because if they were aluminum they would be all bent to shit by now. And once I installed them they’ve never needed adjusting. The front flap could be bigger though, as I still get crud on my BB shell.
[quote=“frankstoneline”]you can always make some out of old milk/soda/whatever jugs and zipties…some of the best fenders I’ve ever had were made makeshift style…
knowing how to rig fenders together is a really useful thing.[/quote]
do you have pictures of this? sounds interesting…
The Planet Bike fenders are really nice. I highly recommend them. They have the best mounting hardware (way better than the SKS fenders that I bought them to replace). They feel solid, set up nicely and are fairly quiet. Mist of the time I am unaware that they are there. I like to use a Sheldon nut on the front. It rotates the front fender lower and gets you a bit better coverage (it also makes brake adjustment easier).